Peckwater Quadrangle, Grade I listed quadrangle at Christ Church College, Oxford, England
Peckwater Quadrangle is a courtyard within Christ Church college in Oxford, enclosed on three sides by matching ranges of student accommodation in the Palladian style. The fourth side is formed by the college library, which has an open arcade at ground level and a row of tall windows above.
The site was previously occupied by a medieval inn called Peckwater Inn, which gave the quadrangle its name, and building work took place between 1706 and 1711. Henry Aldrich, the Dean of Christ Church at the time, drew up the design, and it was carried out by the mason William Townesend.
The three matching facades of Peckwater Quadrangle follow the Palladian style, which was still quite new in England when the courtyard was completed. Walking through the space today, the symmetry between the three sides is immediately noticeable, even before reaching the library on the fourth side.
The quadrangle is part of Christ Church college, so access may be limited at certain times of day, especially during term. Visiting in the morning usually allows for a quieter look at the space before larger groups arrive.
The library on the south side was originally intended to house a printing press, not books, and its function changed before it ever opened. This explains why the ground-floor arcade was designed to allow carts to pass through, a detail that has no obvious purpose in a reading room.
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